


Who Killed Markiplier?: The Novelization

by Kira_the_Cat



Category: Markiplier-fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Murder Mystery, Novelization, Spoilers, Supernatural Elements, Who Killed Markiplier?, i guess, just fleshing out some dialogue and the da character, nothings changed really, whodunit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-27 15:04:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_the_Cat/pseuds/Kira_the_Cat
Summary: Markiplier is dead... What was supposed to be a lively game of poker with close and trusted friends has taken a sinister twist. Someone has murdered Markiplier and now it's up to you to find out whodunit! But be careful... because can you really trust anyone in these blood-stained halls?A novelization of the four part mini series Who Killed Markiplier.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to do this on a whim as a warm up while watching the sequel, Wilford Motherluvin' Warfstache, and it spun out of control into a full novelization. If you haven't watched the miniseries first I suggest you do so beforehand. Enjoy I guess. Also that summary is from the TV Tropes entry on the mini series.

I'd heard the stories of Markiplier Manor and its reclusive owner, mostly urban legends and conjecture. I never believed a word of it personally but looking back, I wish I had. For if I had known what was to transpire I wouldn't have gone to that party. While the world is full of strange things, and the nature of my job as District Attorney, and before that an officer of the law, threw some of the most horrendous crimes at me, nothing I had ever seen or heard before in my entire life never mind my career had ever prepared me for the horrors that would occur during that fateful poker game and the secrets hidden within those brick walls.

\-------------------------

The manor seemed to loom and lord over its grounds like a mighty mountain, tall and proud, as I followed the winding road towards my destination. Mayor Damien had repeatedly said that it was impressive, but seeing it with my own eyes as I walked up the pathway still came as somewhat of a shock even after sitting in the car for an hour. Checking my watch I decided that now was as good a time as any to head inside, and made my way towards the front doors. As I did there was a curious man with a rather impressive mustache and wearing an expedition outfit standing before them.

"Oh, bully! And here I thought I was going to be the last guest to arrive." He said, with a polite British accent before giving a bow. "My friends call me the Colonel. You're welcome to do the same, should it please you. But, uh, after you." He moved aside to let me through the doors, following some distance behind me, and immediately I was greeted by the manor's butler.

"Ah, bonjour! Welcome to Markiplier Manor." He said, voice soft and polite. He had an air of genuine friendliness about him and I felt warmed by his presence. "Your invitation, please." I presented him with the gold sealed envelope I had received a week prior and a smile bloomed across his face. "Very good, very good. Right this way." He ushered me through the manor's grand foyer and towards the parlor where the Mayor was chatting with a man in a brown trench coat. "Good luck at the table tonight. I shall fetch you a drink forthwith." I thanked him and he headed off towards the kitchen. 

"Oh! There you are, old friend." He said, as delighted to see me as I was to see him. "How are you settling into your new office?"

"Its a bit overwhelming, to say the least." I answered honestly. I was used to patrolling the streets and stopping criminals that way, not sitting behind a desk shuffling beurocratic paperwork. He chuckled lightly.

"Now I know it'll take some getting used to, but there's no one I would rather have alongside me to protect this great city of ours." If I could say one thing about Damien, it was that he was a polite man. He truly cared about his constituents, and even when things seemed tough he always looked at the positive side of things. He was a beacon of positive hope at every turn and one of the best friends I had back in our younger days. So when he got me a job in his office as District Attorney after having not seen each other in several years how could I say no? It may not be as exciting as my former position but if Damien had faith in me and was willing to pull the strings necessary to get me the job, then I would do my best to make things work and make things better for his and the city's sake. 

"Thank you, Damien. That means a lot to me." I said. He smiled fondly at me and it felt like old times.

"Now, I'll see you at the table soon, but try not to rob me blind again." He said, both of us chuckling a bit. "We'll catch up then." He headed on his way and I wandered around the parlor a bit, taking in the gorgeous design of the manor. As I rounded the corner into the dining room, the manor's chef was at the table collecting some plates. He was a shorter, somewhat intimidating looking fellow with long, dark curled locks of hair flowing from under his cap and draped over his right shoulder. He turned to me and the malice and disdain in his eyes threw me for a loop.

"If you're looking for hors d'oeuvres, I'll get em when I'm good and ready!" He spat, voice a dark, growling bass. He glared at me and headed for the kitchen before quickly turning to threaten me with his ladle. "And stay out of my kitchen!" I held my hands up in neutrality before the butler came rushing in.

"Now now! Let's not be rude to our guest." He said, balancing a silver tray of glasses in one hand. The chef slinked away into the kitchen and he handed me one of the glasses. "So sorry about that. Here is your champagne. Enjoy your evening." I thanked him again and he went on his merry way to distribute drinks to the other attendees as out generous host dressed in a red silk robe came down the spiral staircase to greet us.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all!" He said, voice smooth like butter and carrying across the room. He seemed polite enough and charismatic, fitting for an actor. "My name is Markiplier. Thank you for joining me on this auspicious evening. So good to be surrounded by such close and trusting friends. Now, this evening, its not all about the poker. Its not all about me. Its about _you_. So drink up, and be merry! Life is for the living! And who knows? I could be dead tomorrow." He laughed at his morbid joke and at the time I merely brushed it off and thought nothing of the feeling of....eccentricity he also gave off as I downed my drink. 

The room began to swirl and blur as the party kicked into gear and we started playing a few hands of poker. I admit, I don't remember much from that night. Too many drinks blurred together, too many events happening all at the same time. It was a rush, one I hadn't felt in so long. I don't even remember who won the poker game and it was the last thing on my mind as I fell into a bed at one thirty in the morning and faded into a drunken sleep.

\-----------------------

The next morning I was awoken by the ring of the alarm clock at eight thirty sharp, or maybe it was the ringing in my ears and alcohol muddled brain that roused me from sleep. My mouth tasted of stale liquor and cigarette smoke making everything inside feel dry, as if I had been chewing on my clothes all night. There was a dull throbbing in my head from the hangover I was no doubt suffering from and I yawned a bit as I arose from the bed. As I entered the hallway, planning to see if our host was gracious enough to provide us with breakfast as well, the butler was standing before the balcony over looking the stairs with a glass of bubbling white liquid.

"Ah, good morning." He said, keeping his voice low and gentle which I was grateful for as it didn't aggravate the nerves in my head. "Hope you've had a good night's rest." He hands me the glass with that same friendly smile and I feel the pain in my head melt away a little at the sight. "I've prepared for you a seltzer with cocaine. Best thing for the morning after, if you ask me." I graciously took the glass and take a sip of the bubbling liquid, feeling a bit better once the numbness kicked in. As the butler headed into another room, I notice Damien standing at the balcony near the top of the stairs as prim and proper as ever. It was as if last nights shenanigans failed to marr his near perfect appearance.

"Ah, there's our little monster!" He said all smiles and excitement. "You really knocked 'em dead last night. I haven't seen you go wild like that since our days at university."

"I guess I did get a little rowdy last night." I said, barely recognizing my own voice as it left my lips.

"Good to let the beast out every once in a while, eh, old friend?" I nodded and sipped at my drink. As the haze of drunken revelry cleared a bit more, I noticed Damien looked a little sullen in the face as he continued. "Then again, I'm-I'm still not exactly sure as to what we're supposed to be celebrating here. I mean, its good to have the gang back together, but...out of the blue like this seems..." He trailed off and a strange look came over his face before it disappeared behind his usual friendly demeanor. "Anyway, now is not the time to become conspiratorial. Life is ours to choose, as I always say. I have some work to finish, but I'll meet you at breakfast. We'll all catch up soon." He headed back into his room and I down the stairs, unknowing of the dark turn things were about to take.


	2. Chapter 2

As I stated before; the manor, while mysterious, was incredibly gorgeous both inside and out. It was filled with a lot of high quality art at furniture and I found myself getting distracted by the sights. Of course distraction does come with a bit of a consequence. As I rounded the corner into the den, I was assaulted by the bright flash of lightning, the brief sight of something falling, and the sound of said something or someone rather, hitting the polished wood floor. It didn't register at first what had happened until the detective, who I had seen yesterday, entered the room shortly after I had.

"Did anyone hear that lightning? OH MY GOD! THERE'S BEEN A MURDER!" He exclaimed loudly, thunder and lightning crashing above the manor. Soon after the butler arrived, asking the same question before noticing the body on the floor followed by the chef, both screaming about the murder as what sounded like a nasty storm brewed outside. Suddenly the detective grabbed me by the collar, a savage, questioning look in his eyes as he fired off several questions. "What the hell happened here? Who's in charge around here? Trick question: that guy. And he's dead now, which makes ME in charge. So you better listen up good, bucko." I swallowed thickly, a headache building up in my head as he stared at me with scrutinizing eyes. "'Case you haven't been paying attention, there's been a bit of a...killin'." He paused to glance around for a moment, as did the chef, and it seemed like he was expecting something to happen. When nothing did he launched right back to interrogating me. "And you're my prime suspect. So you better get to explaining right quick as to the what, where, when and why you happened to be here upon this man's death!"

Before I could begin to defend myself, the butler who had been checking the body of his late employer spoke up.

"Sir, the body is cold. He's been dead a while." He said. The detective began to chuckle.

"A likely story! That I happen to believe completely." He said. "Alright, you're off the hook for now, but I'm a detective and-" The chef cut him off, turning the suspicion from me to the detective.

"Oh, yeah? Prove you're a real dick!" He challenged, the two of them glaring at one another. The detective reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet.

"Here's my badge. Asshole." He flashed it around for us all to see and as he did, a rather long assortment of photos came tumbling down. They were all of him and various other officers. "Ah, those are my old partners. Don't ask me about them." I opened my mouth to change the subject but he continued as if he was only giving the choice not to ask as a formality. "Fine! I'll tell you. Each one of them died. Each death more tragic than the last. A few of them even died in ironically hilarious ways. Which made it all the more tragic." The chef and I exchanged a look and I was starting to wonder if that badge was truly real at this point. "But hey, you look like you're up to the task. You're my new partner." I quickly shook my head in protest. Who the hell was he to decide that?! And without even so much as my imput! He simply laughed, a fond laugh. "That's what all my old partners used to say. Right before they died." The chef and I exchanged another look and I felt like I was going to faint right then and there. "Alright. Hand me that fingerprinting kit behind you, partner."

Now usually I'd be all over a case like this, solving crimes was my passion. But to be randomly thrust into the thick of a murder investigation with no consultation when I barely knew the victim or even my new "partner" was not sitting well with me. Still, I resigned myself to helping as it was clear I didn't have much of a choice. I turned to retrieve the kit from the couch, however there wasn't one. Maybe the detective was mistaken. As I turned to face him I was taken aback by the sight of crime scene tape and markers having been set up. Maybe it was the cocaine and the lingering alcohol scrambling my brain, but nonetheless I ducked under the tape to help in any way I could. Once I was on the other side, Damien came into the room, I assume looking for Mark, and the look on his face was a mixture of confusion and worry as he saw the state of the den.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked. The butler immediately got to his feet to address him.

"Oh! Mr. Mayor. I'm so sorry. There's been a murder." He said, lightning punctuating the word. Damien's face went paper white.

"A murder? Who?" He asked.

"Its Mark." The chef said with a shrug.

"I'm afraid he's telling the truth. Mark's been...killed." The detective confirmed.

"Why? Who would do this?"

"That's exactly what me and my new partner are here to figure out." 

"Um, excuse me." The butler interrupted. "I feel like we should call the authorities for them to handle this matter." I was inclined to agree with him but that seemed to set the detective off a bit and so I kept my mouth shut.

"Look buddy, as far as you're concerned I AM the authorities." He said, flashing his badge and the photos again. "The fact of the matter is, I believe the killer is right here amongst us in this very house. With that freaky lightning storm outside, none of us would get very far, anyway." Unfortunately, he was right about that. "So, in the meantime, we're stuck here. But I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. The rest of you, get back to your rooms, hunker down, and pray to God you're not next to be murdered." 

"I'll...I'll go check on our other guests." The butler, still a bit distraught looking, left the room as the lightning flashed outside the windows.

"I'll get back to cooking. All this death made me hungry." The chef declared, stepping over the tape to head back to the kitchen. I turned my attention to Damien, worried about his mental state. Mark was one of his closest childhood friends besides the Colonel and the news would no doubt be weighing on him heavily.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently. His face was pale and clammy looking as he backed away.

"I...I-I need to talk to the Colonel about this." He said before leaving the room.


	3. Chapter 3

As much as I wanted to go and comfort Damien over this mess, I couldn't leave the detective's side. Besides, I wanted to get to the bottom of this mess as well, for Damien's sake.

"All right, partner. It's time to get to work." he said. "Judging by the temperature of the body that I measured rectally, which is obviously the most accurate way to get the inner body temperature of a corpse. That's a fact, totally procedure. Don't tell anyone I did it." Once again I found myself questioning if he was really a detective or if he was getting some sick thrill out of this. Nevertheless I let him continue. "I am sure Mark was killed around 1:30 a.m. last night." He turned that scrutinizing gaze of his back on me as he stood. "So what where YOU doing at one thirty last night?!"

"I was in bed by then. I remember because that's the last thing I saw last night, the clock. And its the only thing from last night I remember because we were all rather drunk." I said defensively.

"I'm gonna ignore the strange fact that you sleep with your eyes open." He said, slightly disturbed by that. "But it checks out. So, we need to figure out where everyone was and what they were doing around that time or, at the very least, who saw Mark last." Strange as his methods may be, he was at least onto something. Someone had to know what happened last night. "You need to get out there. See if you can piece together the story of what happened last night."

"Alright, I'll go ask around." I said, nodding in agreement.

"I'll stick around with the body and run more....tests." He said, stiffing his finger and once again making me wonder if working with him was such a good idea. I decided to see if I could find someone in the immediate area to start the interrogation and as I began heading into the theater I could hear Damien arguing with the Colonel. I'd never been one for eavesdropping and would never accuse Damien of killing his own best friend but they were definitely having heated words and maybe something would slip out about their whereabouts last night.

"Oh, how can you be so flippant?!" Damien questioned, voice distressed.

"Flippant?! I'm taking this matter very seriously!" The Colonel shot back, voice surprisingly calm yet angry.

"Oh, don't give me that horseshit! I know you hated him, but...goddamnit! He reached out to you!" It was clear that Damien was getting more frustrated as the argument continued.

Oh, what do you want from me, then?"

"Wh-- I want you to care!"

"Just because I'm not weeping like a child, doesn't mean that I don't care."

"I can't believe you." Damien said incredulously. He was hurt, I could see it and part of me wanted to just reach out and hug him but I didn't. His voice cracked a bit as he shook his head. "You come find me when you pull your head out of your ass!" I backed up a bit, but not fast enough, as he stormed out of the door. The look in his eyes broke my heart as he let out a strangled excuse me and went passed me. I headed into the theater and found the Colonel looking surprisingly more distressed than he sounded sitting in a chair on the other end of the room. 

"Damien, I don't-- Ah! Good to see you again!" He said, perking up when he saw it was me. "You were quite the rapscallion at last night's festivities. But you're probably here to help the detective with his "Investigation of murder"." The thunder rumbled out side, surprising us both. "Anyway. I'll help you, I'll tell you what happened to our dear friend Mark."

"Thank you. So can you tell me what happened last night? Anything of significance?" I asked. The Colonel got a strange look in his eyes and I felt a bit of a chill run down my spine.

"Oh look at me! My name is Markiplier now!" He said, sneering a bit as he mocked Mark's speaking pattern. "Forget all my friends or the people that helped me along the way; just look at my money! Oh, I need to pay people to be my friends! Ha ha ha! You like me? Too bad! Oh, glug glug! Oopsie poopsie! I can't hold my booze! Gotta go off to the little boys' room. Who wants to join me? I'm gonna go there upon my stairs. MY house has more than ONE staircase. Oh look at me and how great I AM! Oh no, I'm falling! Aaah, I'm dead." I could feel the animosity and resentment dripping from his words, never mind the sarcasm. How on earth were they friends if he was willing to talk about him like that while his body laid cold in the next room? "And that's what happened. Probably, anyway. So, if you need to corroborate this story with anybody else, just be on your way and investigate the entire house. Go now. I'll be here when you're done."

That interaction gave me quite a lot to think about. It was definitely too early to declare a killer, but it was definitely shaping up to be the Colonel with the most motive so far, especially given how callously he mocked his so called friend. As I was leaving, the butler stopped me at the door with a distressed look on his face.

"Come with me. I need to show you something." He said. I followed him down the hallway to the other side of the manor. "Now, if you're looking for answers, there's really no mystery at all. There's not a single detail of this house that I'm not privy to, and not a single guest that I have not personally vetted." On the one hand that sounded promising and maybe he could point me in the right direction to help close this case. On the other hand though, that sounded like he was pointing the finger at himself and even though he had been nothing but kind up until the discovery of Mark's body, I grew a little suspicious of him. "Now I warn you: what you are about to see is not for the faint of heart. A domain of evil this is...but in we must go." He hesitated at the top of a staircase leading down to the wine cellar. "You first." I went ahead, suspicion crawling up my spine like an electric shock. If he truly was the murderer then he was likely leading me to my demise as well to hide his secret. I tensed up awaiting the cold sting of a knife or bullet in my back but nothing, just an empty broken bottle of wine on the ground. "AVERT YOUR EYES! I'm so sorry you had to see this!" He yelled, running around the corner with a broom and dustpan in his hands. His hands trembled as he swept up the broken glass bits. "Master would be so displeased! If only he were still alive!" He cried, breaking down into loud, heaving sobs. I immediately felt bad that I even thought to accuse him, especially while he was grieving, and left him alone to his sorrow. 

I headed back upstairs to the chef chopping away at some meat in the kitchen. Since he was here I might as well question him but as I approached he turned the knife on me, eyes burning with hatred.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my kitchen!" he said sharply, brandishing the knife. I held up my hands and backed away a bit.

"Easy, I'm not here to cause trouble." I said.

"Oh. You're helping that dick with his little investigation, huh?" He asked sarcastically. "Well, I might look like a sweet and innocent man, but some people with short lifespans might think otherwise. I can't imagine why, can you?" I wisely kept my mouth shut as he continued ranting. He just shot up to the top of the suspect list just from that alone. "Last night, after I got rid of all the evidence...of that delicious meal I prepared, and wiped down all the fingerprints...from those filthy dishes. And sopped up all that blood...I retired to my room at one a.m. and left my little buddy in charge, like I always do." He motioned to the little statue near the windowsill that resembled him before he kissed it on the cheek. "He sees everything. Why don't you ask HIM what happened last night?" I was going to ask what he meant by that until I noticed the camera peeking out from his "little buddy's" eyes. 

Perhaps the murderer had been caught on tape? I took a look at the footage and so far, nothing was happening. The manor was empty around the time of the murder last night. So I went back a few days and found something curious. The night of the seventh, I could see the detective! And he was talking with Mark. 

"Abe!"

"Mark! Good to see ya."

"Great to see ya. Look, I'll cut right to the chase. Chef, butler, good?"

"Chef's an asshole, but he's clean. Uh...butler, he's a new guy. Also an asshole, but he's also clean."

"Well, wouldn't have it any other way." 

The tape stopped there and I was more confused now then when the investigation started. At least one thing was clear, the reason Chef hated Detective Abe was finally obvious but he didn't seem like the murderer no matter how unhinged he may be. Speaking of Chef, when I finished reviewing the footage he was already gone. That discouraged me a bit, as I had a few more questions to ask him. I sighed, trying to compile what I had so far into some sort of sense as I wandered outside. Things just weren't adding up and I felt like I was going nowhere with this. As I walked around, I noticed Damien still looking rather upset. He noticed me and sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry you saw that argument with the Colonel." He said, voice subdued and apologetic. "I lost my temper, and it wasn't right and...he must be in shock."

"It's alright, Damien. This is a tough time for everyone." I said reassuringly. "If you don't mind though I'd like to know a bit more about the Colonel."

"The Colonel's an eccentric; it's his best quality and his worst." He said. "But he's my friend, and...so was Mark. I know I'm supposed to be a leader in this scenario, but I can't help but feel lost! I've known Mark for years, since we were kids! And he's just gone?"

"Damien...."

"I don't have any answers right now. I just need to be alone...to process all of this." He said. "We'll talk soon, but I need to think." He turned and walked away and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I hated to see him like this, so broken and lost. It hurt but he needed to grieve and I could at least grant him that.

"Psst! Hey! Partner! Get over here, now! Hurry up!" I turned to see Abe hiding behind a topiary trying to get my attention. I quickly headed over, wondering if he had a break in the case. "You're not gonna believe this; I can barely believe this! The body: it's gone." 

"It's what?!" I whisper yelled, not sure who could hear us. 

"It's just fucking disappeared. Look!" I followed him back inside and sure enough, the body was gone with nary more than the outline Abe had done earlier. But who would steal a dead man's body?


	4. Chapter 4

"WHO DID THIS?!" Abe yelled, loud enough to rattle the walls. "It certainly wasn't me. No, no. Somebody, NOT ME, must have moved it between the time I was the last person alone with the body in the room and then stepped out for a few minutes to take care of some personal business that you don't need to know about!" I narrowed my eyes at him. He couldn't be stupid enough to not know how suspicious that made him sound, especially since he was the last one in the room. "Could have been anyone...except me." Before I could chew him out, the butler entered the room.

"What the hell happened here?" He questioned.

"The body's been moved." Abe answered.

"On it's own?!"

"No, of course not. Unless it did, in which case we've got way bigger problems than a simple murder." As if the universe was echoing itself, the chef entered the room shortly after asking the exact same thing as the butler.

"What the hell happened here?!" 

"The body's moved." The butler answered.

"On its own?"

"We haven't quite ruled that out just yet, but let's not forget we've got a murderer." The thunder and lightning crashed again and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around to see the Colonel smiling in my face.

"Bully! Quite a storm out there, eh, chaps? What are you all doing huddled in here in fear?" He asked as if nothing was wrong. 

"We have a zombie problem." Chef said.

"Ah, Homo Necrosis! The MOST dangerous game. Well, if someone needs to put the old lad down again, I'm well up for the privilege." Abe narrowed his eyes at the Colonel and my suspicions about him once again came to the forefront.

"What do you mean by "again", and what do you mean by "privilege"?" Abe questioned.

"I'm just saying, I've got plenty of...e-experience on the matter." He said.

"So do I." Chef chimed in. However Abe didn't seem to be buying it.

"Yeah, that just raises more questions." He said. I could tell that he, like I was heavily questioning the Colonel's involvement in all this. Even though Damien said he was eccentric, he's done nothing but prance about and mock the death of his late friend. To say it was worrying was an understatement.

"Well, I'm off to the grounds to see if I can catch a whiff of the old bag of bones, eh?" He started laughing, the sound sending chills up my spine but not as many as the question the butler asked as he departed.

"Wait, weren't you and Mark the same age?" The Colonel didn't answer as he continued to laugh as he left.

"Alright, I don't trust him. Then again, I don't trust anyone." Abe said, and I had to agree with him. Former friend of Damien and Mark or not, the Colonel's actions were becoming more and more suspicious the longer we looked into this case. No one, not even he could be trusted at this point. "Alright, lock this place down. Secure the front gate. I don't want anyone in or out of this place until we get to the bottom of this."

"Locks won't keep people from getting out, sir." The butler said.

"Locks won't, but Chef will."

"Look, you're a real smart son of a bitch." Abe said sarcastically. "Handsome, too. Beautiful, even. BUT, we don't have time for this. I think we forgot the most important question of all during our arousing game of whodunit. Why? Why?" As...questionable as things were with him he once again had a point. Why would someone kill Mark? "Come, walk with me." I followed him through the manor, mulling over the question he put forth. "Why did he invite us all here? Why tonight? He said we were celebrating something, but he never specified what. It's almost as if this whole shindig of a hootenanny was just a ruse."

"Are you saying you think Mark set all this up? For what?" I asked. What on earth could he have sought to gain from doing that? Weeding out the person who may have wanted him dead, only to end up that way? It didn't make sense.

"Look, Mark was my friend; had been for years. But then he went quiet. I knew something was wrong, I just never figured out what." He said, his face growing somber. "Now I guess I never will." It seemed that even with all the mystery surrounding him, Mark meant an awful lot to the people in his life. "Look, I'm gonna level with you; you're my new partner. I've been working with him for years."

"I get it, there's history." I said. He nodded.

"Now I've been doing this for a long time, and I know something is wrong. There is a murderer--" He paused as the lightning struck again outside. "--here amongst us, and we need to find him. Now you look like a trustworthy...somebody. I know we just met, but I am an excellent judge of character. Excellent like a fox." Or crazy like one. I continued following him down the hallway getting lost in my own thoughts as I tried to piece together the details so far. Abe may have trusted me, or maybe he didn't who knew, but I hadn't fully cleared him or the Colonel in my mind. They both were just as close to Mark as anyone else, and with the amount of back and forth between the two I could all but smell the bad blood like a shark in water. Suddenly he stopped and turned on me as we were going down the stairs. "You don't look like you have a reason kill him." And I didn't, considering I barely knew the man and was only here because of Damien's insistence. "And if you do..." He laughed a little. "Best to keep your enemies close, eh? Wink wink. So, the real question we should be asking is: Who stood to gain the most from Mark's death?"

A very good question. It didn't seem like Mark had any children or living relatives outside possibly the Colonel and despite his...unflattering depiction of him the help didn't seem too upset to have him as their employer. Someone had to have something to gain from all this. I was roused from my thoughts by another of Abe's analyses.

"Now, in my thorough analysis of the corpse's anal cavity, I discovered that in addition of being stabbed 37 times, he was also poisoned, beaten, strangled, drowned, and shot, in that order." He said. "Now, if you ask me, that's a lot of trouble to go through to knock off one guy, and it sure as shit is no accident. No. No, my friend. There's gonna be no simple candlestick-in-the-library solution to this whole...puzzle. So, we're gonna have to do the detective-ly thing and go through the victim's most private and personal possessions." We finally arrived at our destination; Mark's bedroom. Whatever laid behind those cherry oak double doors may have been the key to solving this case.

"Well, after you." Abe said, standing aside to let me into the room first. Under normal circumstances, I would have found the room impressive just like the rest of the manor. But as we entered the room we were greeted to the sight of utter chaos. Things thrown around and tipped over, drawers torn open with their contents littering the floor. It looked like either a struggle took place or someone was looking for something. Abe sighed as he came up from behind me. "Looks rough, but I don't think he was killed here." I had to agree with him a bit. Given the wounds he said Mark had prior to his death and the lack of blood in the room this couldn't have been where he was killed. It was more than likely a staged set up or it was possible Mark himself did the damage to the room beforehand. "Take a look around, see if you find anything, but BE CAREFUL. I've lost three partners before to bedroom booby traps." 

"Thanks for that lovely image." I said dryly. I carefully stepped over the carnage in the room, looking for anything significant while Abe checked the other side of the room. 

"Make sure you don't tamper with any evidence! Lemme know if you find anything." He ordered. As I scanned the room I noticed, on the table in the small nook, were a collection of framed photos. Friendly, candid photos of Mark, Damien and the Colonel with one overturned with its glass shattered about on the table. 

"Hey, take a look at this." I said holding up the frame.

"You find a clue?" He asked.

"I think so. Seems to be a photo of the-- Colonel!" I jumped about ten feet in the air as the Colonel seemed to just materialize in front of me.

"You're quite on the case, aren't you?" He asked, voice gruffer than it had been when I spoke to him earlier. "Say, detective? May I borrow your friend here?" Something in my brain screamed at Abe to not let me go with him, I had a bad feeling even though I didn't voice it. Unfortunately Abe, while still suspicious, didn't stop him.

"Yeah, sure. Don't worry, partner, I'll handle it from here." He said. The Colonel grinned at me and I felt chills run down my spine.

"Bully. Take a walk with me." He said as I followed him out of the room. "I thought that it was about time that we got to...KNOW each other. Someplace far, far away from the prying eyes of, uh...anyone else. Come with me." My blood ran cold at that, but I couldn't stop myself from following him outside. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong but...you and the Mayor know each other, right?" I nodded.

"Yes, Damien and I went to college together." I said.

"He's a good man, that one. We've been fast friends for as long as I can remember." He said. "Now there came a time when I could have said the same thing about Mark, but...Well, best not to speak ill of the dead." In spite of the fact that he'd been doing that very thing since the body was discovered? Possibly longer given the openly displayed animosity? Before I could question what he sought to gain from bringing me out here, his focus shifted. "Oh! The pool hasn't aged a day!"

"What has that got to--" I barely took my eyes off him for a full five seconds but when I looked back he was somehow, already clad in a swimsuit and jumping off into the water with a raucous shout. Before my brain could fully process what the hell just happened, Damien came running around the corner.

"Have you seen the Colonel?" He asked. "I thought I heard him...I need to speak with him. I may have been a bit short at our last encounter. Well, if you do see him, let me know." He was gone before I could tell him he had just randomly jumped in the pool. Speaking of which, the very second Damien was out of sight the Colonel emerged from the water.

"BULLY!" he shouted, joyfully. I called out for Damien but he must have already gone back inside and out of earshot. When I turned around I fully expected the Colonel to soaked head to toe but my eyes widened and my pulse skipped a beat as he was somehow, miraculously fully dressed again and dry as a bone. 

"What-- how did--" I stammered, confused beyond all belief.

"Oh, life needs a bit of madness, eh, chap?" He asked as if he could sense that I was confused from just about everything that transpired in that short amount of time. "Now, what were we talking about? Oh, yes! The grisly business inside. Well, I'm sure I'm not the first to say that our host had a great deal of enemies as of late."

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned.

"My prying eye might suspect that the people who worked for him might have reason to stab him in the back. God knows he's a tough son of a bitch to work for." I felt myself getting whiplash from the Colonel's radical changes in both interest and personality. Just mere moments ago he was just saying he wouldn't speak ill of the dead yet here he was doing it yet again and once again shifting his focus to something else. It was like dealing with a child. "Oh, the old golf course! I-I'll fetch my clubs." Before I could stop him he went off running out of sight leaving me confused about the exchange.

"Colonel?" I turned to see Damien again, who must have heard him run off and came to make amends only to miss him by a hair. "Damn, I thought I heard him. No matter. Would you accompany me?" I nodded and followed him back towards the manor. "There's something that I would...very much like to discuss with you. Now, I know you've been assisting our...intrepid detective with his investigation, but...I have to bring some concerns of mind to the forefront."

"Okay, I'm willing to listen." I said. If he had some suspicions they might have been helpful to the case. 

"If we look at this situation logically, we can only assume that the killer who struck down our dear friend Mark was with us last night." He said. I nodded in agreement, that had been both mine and Abe's train of thought as well and the only question after that was who among us could have done it. "And while I would stake my life on the innocence of the Colonel or yourself, can we really say the same of our beloved detective?" That was a good point. Abe was just as unhinged as both Chef and the Colonel but he seemed to be the one most likely as he was the first to accuse everyone and the last to be seen with the body. He also declined to call in for back up, possibly to keep the spotlight off himself and claim all the glory if he managed to set up someone else. However, it was still too early to tell and there were plenty of reasons for the Colonel to still have done it. Still, I didn't voice these concerns to Damien. I didn't want to upset him further.

"Or worse yet," he continued. "mayhaps our counting skills aren't as good as we assume them to be. And mayhaps...in the shadows of this manor, unseen to any of us, lay hidden.....a murderer." The storm kicked up again but one sound didn't match the thunder or lightning, a gunshot. Damien and I exchanged a look before running back inside to the sound of Abe arguing with the Colonel, both holding each other at gunpoint.

"I don't know what you're playing at but you better lower your weapon, you murderer!" Abe yelled, finger on the trigger as he backed away.

"I bloody well won't, you're the one that assaulted me! For all I know, you could be the murderer!" The Colonel spat back, prepped to fire at any moment. Chef suddenly came running in but wisely backed off, hands in the air at the sight of two guns pointed at him. 

"Last chance, drop your weapon!" Abe yelled as the two of them got closer to the front door. 

"Everyone, please! I know we're all on edge, but can't we resolve this amicably?" Damien pleaded.

"On edge?! This PSYCHO tried to SHOOT ME!"

"That's a bold-faced lie! I was merely doing some light target practice!"

"Inside?!" The butler and I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, yes. I couldn't go on the grounds now with that bloody chef in my way, could I?" He justified.

"You're damn right!" Chef yelled, the threat of being shot no longer phasing him despite the fact that he was only armed with a soup ladle. "You should have remembered that, Private! Besides, you're not my boss anymore!"

"It's "Colonel" now." He said darkly, ready to turn the gun on Chef before Abe recaptured his attention.

"Enough of this horseshit!" He yelled. "You knew I was onto you and you were trying to whack me off before I could finger you!" Everyone paused at the odd wording. "As the murderer!"

"I will not be called a murderer in my own home!" Wait, what did he mean by that? I didn't have time to ponder that long as the two were dangerously close to each other and about to fire. But just before either could pull the trigger, the front door swung open,

"STOP!" And in walked a strange woman.


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you doing?!" She yelled. 

"Who the hell are you?" Abe questioned, both he and the Colonel still holding their guns.

"Celine? What are you doing here?" The Colonel questioned, voice going soft. 

""Celine"? How the hell do you know her?" 

"Madame, I'm afraid you've come at a very inopportune time." The butler interrupted, getting a gun aimed at him. "Something dreadful has happened here."

"I can see that, and I'm glad I got here before it got any worse." She said. 

"This is only the tip of the iceberg!" Chef interjected. "And it's a big iceberg. How can I put this delicately? MARK'S FUCKING DEAD! Dead, like my hopes and dreams." Well I wouldn't exactly call that delicately but given how explosive the situation was I didn't blame him for just coming out and saying it. It was then I noticed the pained look in Celine's eyes.

"What?" She said softly. I didn't know her relationship to Mark, but it seemed that she cared for him a lot and hearing of his passing was a shock to her.

"And he's a flesh-eating zombie, too." He added, despite the fact that we hadn't actually confirmed that yet.

"Homo Necrosis."

"Exactly, hence the guns." Colonel said, waving his firearm around and causing Abe to scoff.

"That is not "hence the guns"!" He said.

"Stop waving those bloody guns around!" The butler yelled.

"Hol-hold on! Tell me what happened!" Celine interjected, recapturing everyone attention. "How did Mark...die?"

"It was murder." We all turned to see Damien, who had previously been removed from the preceeding arguments, walking towards us with a somber look. "And worse yet...the body is missing."

"What? Show me. And don't say that word." She said as we headed back to the scene of the crime; the den. 

"What word, murder?" Chef asked, all of us stopping in our tracks as the lightning crashed again. 

"Well, I mean murder is a rather accurate description of what occur--" The butler was cut off as Celine hit him in the arm.

"Do you not SEE the lightning?!" She yelled.

"You sayin' it was lightning that murdered Mark?" Abe asked.

"Well, Mother Nature doesn't exactly strike me as having murderous intent." The Colonel said, all the while lightning crashing above us at every mention of the word murder. "...Unless you could that time I was sucked into the board game: Jumanji and I wa--!" Celine interrupted him.

"Stop, stop! Look, whatever's happening here is tapping into forces far beyond our control." She said.

"You mean, something supernatural?" I asked. Sure there were strange things going on but there had to be some logical explanation for everything. And that aside, it wasn't like ghosts and such existed. We all glanced around the room and as if to test the theory the Chef spoke quitely.

"Murder." He whispered, and the result was as if he had spoke normally. The lightning crashed and flashed again. 

"Mur...doch?" The Colonel tested. Nothing.

"Malarkey?" Still nothing. 

"Marco." Apparently whatever forces Celine alluded to being in the manor were fed up with the teasing as the butler's words, despite lacking Murder in any context, brought more lightning and sent us all scrambling for the dining room. We all sat at the table, with Damien on my left and the Colonel to my right. 

"Look. Mark's death is a terrible thing indeed." Celine said. "But I feel that there are forces much darker than anything we've seen here today. I'm well versed in the arcane arts, but if you, untrained and uninitiated, can summon lightning with a mere word? We're all in far graver danger than anything we could ever hope to face alone." If what she said was true, then what exactly were we dealing with here? "We're going to have to work together if we're going to survive this."

"Celine, what are you proposing?" Damien asked. I could sense that he wasn't going to like what she was suggesting. He seemed a bit...off ever since Celine showed up.

"We need to speak with Mark." She said.

"I knew it!" Chef shouted. "He's a flesh eating zombie!"

"No."

"Well, maybe one of those smart zombies: Homeo Sapio Zombifus." Colonel said.

"No, no. I need to commune with the dead." She clarified.

"You mean a seance?" I asked.

"That...doesn't sound like a good idea." Abe said, and I found myself agreeing with him. Who knew what kind of evil we'd unleash if we did that.

"Well, it's a good thing I don't need your permission." She sneered at him. Suddenly she turned her attention on me. "But you! You've been awfully quiet through this whole thing." And just as soon as she turned nearly the whole house did.

"With those beady little eyes." Chef said.

"And wearing THOSE rags, pff." The butler chimed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have trusted someone so goddamn gorgeous." Abe said. It was such a sudden shift in tone and, sans the Colonel and Damien neither of which said anything insulting to me, it was as if the whole room filled with malice and ill intent. Yet as soon as it manifested it was gone and Celine and the others were back to normal.

"But I feel like I can trust you." She said, as if she hadn't just accused me mere seconds ago. "I sense that you have a far greater part to play in all of this. Will you help me find an answer?" I didn't exactly trust her, or understand what she intended to do, but I wanted to clear my name and help bring things to a close. I nodded and she smiled. "Perfect. Come with me." As we got up from the table Abe stopped us.

"Alright, that's enough." He said. "I'm not gonna just sit around and let you drag my partner off to their very likely death. I won't stand for it!"

"Well, I trust Celine with all my heart!" The Colonel said in defense. "I see no reason why an-any-any one should doubt her!"

"Well, I have to agree with our intrepid detective here." The butler chimed in. "It just doesn't seem natural."

"I never liked this uptight asshole." Chef said, gesturing to Abe. "He walks around with a stick up his ass. But he's right, something's weird." 

"If it makes you feel any better, you guys can stand watch outside the door." Celine said. "But my work CANNOT be interrupted." 

"Oh believe you me. I'll be keeping a close eye on every single one of you." Abe declared. "Even myself. Especially myself." Celine and I got up from the table and headed for the stairs, with Damien who had been completely silent for the most part following us. 

"Wh-- Celine? Celine, wait. Wait!" He said, stopping her at the bottom of the stairs. 

"Yes, Damien?"

"I...are you alright?" He asked. "I know this news can't be settling well with you."

"I'm fine for now." She insisted, going up the stairs. Damien glanced at me before following her.

"I..er..But all this talk of the occult! And-- and Mark is dead, wait! Wait." He stopped her at the top of the stairs and pleaded with her. "I just didn't think you were the type to become mixed up with all this." Celine scoffed.

"There is more to this world than you could ever hope to imagine." She said. "I just had my eyes open to a small portion of it." She turned and walked away and my heart ached for Damien. This was so incredibly tough for not just the rest of us but him as well and to see him so crushed like this was hard. 

"I..." He sighed. "Just be careful! You too." I patted him on the shoulder.

"I will be, don't worry Damien." I said before continuing to follow Celine. She led me into a small room with a table and two chairs and asked me to hand her her bag. I hadn't seen her come in with one, and there wasn't one on the floor. When I turned around to inform her of this she had set up some candles and a crystal ball on the table. "Please, have a seat." I sat down, trying not to let the weirdness get to me. "Now, I'm sure this must be unsettling for you, being thrust into this series of unfortunate events." That was an understatement. This entire situation was beyond unsettling and going further and further into the realm of improbable with each passing hour. "But I promise-- with your help, I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"Well in that case, tell me what I can do to help." I said.

"Now I'm not sure who would want to kill Mark, but something tells me this seemingly significant event is actually a footnote in a much larger mystery unfolding in our midst." She said.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. She glanced around, as if she were looking to see if something was watching us despite the fact that we were totally alone in the room.

"I've never been very comfortable in this house. But something tells me...now that my eyes are open, there are dark forces surrounding this manor." She said. Suddenly, I felt overcome with a sense of dizziness, as if the room was fading away around me and I was being sucked down into something. What the hell did this woman just do to me?! The further I drifted the stranger things got. Memories, recent ones, flashed in my mind. Distorted images of things that had already happened fading in and out of my vision and a dull ringing in my ears. The suspects, things I had previously thought insignificant before. And something new. A man with a shovel. 

"Employers come and go, come and go. Some die, some don't." And then, nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

I came back to my body with a gasp, unaware that I hadn't actually left it in the first place. 

"What happened? Why did you stop?" Celine questioned. "Did you see something? Someone?" I nodded and she handed me a piece of paper. "Draw it." I picked up a feather quill and started drawing. When I was done I handed it back to her. "What is this? This doesn't answer anything! You need to go back! Go back, now!" I didn't want to go back, and thankfully I didn't have to as Abe and Damien entered the room. 

"What the shit is this?" Abe questioned, coming to my side. Celine looked angry, as if she wasn't herself. 

"Get out! We are not done here!" She said, trying to force them out of the room.

"Celine, I think this is quite enough." Damien said.

"It's enough when I SAY it's enough!" She shouted, pounding her fists on the table in fury. Abe helped me to my feet, surprising me with how protective he was being.

"C'mon, partner, let's go." He said, pulling me out of the room as Celine tried and failed to stop us. "Come on! Hurry it up! What did she do to you?"

"I-I'm not sure. There was a lot happening. I don't know." I said.

"What is this?" He asked, taking the picture from my hand and looking it over. "Butler! Butler!"

"What? What is it?" He asked, running to our position in the hallway.

"This mean anything to you?" He showed him the picture. The butler took it and looked over it.

"Well, maybe...no, sorry." He said quickly.

"Spit it out if you've got something!" 

"Well...it could be our groundskeeper George, but he only works on weekdays." He said. Chef however, was acting suspicious and it seemed that I wasn't the only one to notice it.

"Looks like your friend here may disagree with that notion!"

"Me?" Chef asked, trying his damnedest to play it cool. But we could all see right through the act.

"Yeah, you!"

"Uh...I don't know shit, I plead the fifth, man." 

"Chef, if you know something, for God's sake spit it out!" The butler snapped. 

"Chef, please. If you know anything, now would be the time to tell us." I said. A few seconds passed before he sighed and relented.

"Okay, alright, you're twisting my arm, alright." He said. "George has been living on the grounds for years."

"WHAT?!" The butler and I yelled simultaneously.

"And you just now thought to share that information with us?" Abe asked sharply. It was definitely suspicious that he waited until now to inform us of an extra party, as if Celine's appearance wasn't enough to muddle the case further. "For all we know, he could be the murderer!"

"For the last time, stop saying that word!" I turned to see Celine and Damien finally emerging from the room to join us.

"Look. George...just tends to the grounds, man." Chef said gently. It was the softest I'd ever heard him speaking since I arrived. It seemed he cared a great deal about this George character. "He's a fuckin' hermit!"

"I don't care what the fuck he is!" Abe yelled.

"Look, all this arguing is getting us nowhere!" Damien said, trying to keep the peace. "Just go outside and talk to this George and be done wth it!"

"Hold on a sec. You're not coming with us?" He asked.

"I-I need to stay here with Celine." He said.

"I don't need help." She said, scowling a bit. "Especially from you!"

"OUR FRIEND IS DEAD!" Damien yelled, finally losing what little bit of calm he had left and shocking us all into silence. His hand trembled as he gripped his cane tightly. The realization of what he just did must have hit him as he quickly composed himself "I'm sorry I just need answers to all of this. I already lost one friend today; I don't want to lose another." Celine's face softened a bit but still held a bit of anger and resentment for whatever reason.

"Fine. But I need to stay here." She said. 

"Fine with me." 

"Fine, good, yeah, whatever, who cares." Abe said. "Alright, you're coming with me." He grabbed Chef and Celine and Damien headed back to the room. "Partner, you too." Suddenly, he stopped. "Hold on a sec...We're missing somebody. Who had eyes on the Colonel?"

"Well, he appeared tired, and...went back to his room." The butler said. 

"I'm sure he did. And with any luck, he'll stay there." He said. "Alright, let's roll out. Come on." I started following him and Chef but I couldn't help but be worried about Damien. This Celine was involved somehow, and I didn't know how. She was making this whole situation even crazier and now the fact that there was another person here the whole time? It was a lot to take in. "Come on, partner! Come on!" I hurried back down the stairs to find him and Chef arguing again. "Lead the way, Cookie."

"Cookie? I'm not your Cookie!" Chef snarled. "I spent three weeks at culinary school! I earned the right to be called a chef!"

"I'm very impressed." Abe said sarcastically. "Just tell us where we're going. Come on, lets go!" He pushed him out the door and we followed a short ways in the dark to the rear of the manor where a man was digging a hole. This must be George. "Hey! Buddy! Hands where I can see 'em!" He drew his gun, aiming it at the groundskeeper.

"Hey, my hands are where they're supposed to be." He said with a Scottish accent. "Unless, of course, you'd like to dig the hole for yourself." 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Abe questioned as he stepped out of the hole.

"I'm the groundskeeper. I keep the ground, alright?" He said. "I'd say look around. The ground is pretty well kept in this place, right?" Abe kept his gun leveled at him.

"I'm sorry, man, this dick made me bring him out here." Chef said, angrily pointing his finger.

"You shut up." He said. "How do you not know about the murders going on in this house? How do you not hear that lightning?" George scoffed.

"Lightning is the sky's business!" He said. "Look at the ground! When the ground starts shooting up lightning, I'll let you know!"

"Alright then, smartass, why exactly are you digging that hole?" He asked. "And why shouldn't we suspect you for taking part in the death of your employer?" My eyes widened as George laughed. I'd heard that exact laugh when I was in the room with Celine. I'd seen this exact scene play out, although with different dialogue.

"Employers come and go! Some die, some don't, some are murdered, some are not!" He said. "It's not my business! I'm digging this hole for a burst water pipe, if that's alright with your gracefulness!"

"See, I told you." Chef said. "George didn't do nothing', man!"

"See? I just did nothing." It seemed that Chef was right and there went our lead. Fizzled out like a candle flame.

"Forgive me for not taking you at face value." Abe said, finally lowering his gun. "But we're all gonna come inside, we're gonna sit down, and have a nice lovely chat and get to the bottom of this before I lose my mind, and start dabbling in murder myself!" George didn't take kindly to that, his whole demeanor changing.

"Now, you listen to me, sonny." He said, voice serious and dark. "It's been fifteen years since I've been in that house. And I am not about to break that winning streak now." Winning streak? What was that supposed to mean? "I don't care how many murders there've been. I ain't going near that house!" Was there something in the house he was afraid of? Did he know who was behind the murder and that was why he stayed outside? Or was he himself the murderer after all and just trying to throw us off his trail. "However, there is one reason. One incident. One manifestation. That will get me into that mad house." I gulped a bit and looked at Abe. He gestured at me to let George continue, wanting to see where he was going with this. "You had better pray to God that that reason never comes to pass." Before I could ask what said reason was, the thunder clapped loudly and we all turned to see a bizarre light emanating from the manor. George's face turned stark white and he started running for the manor. "THAT THERE'S THE REASON!" He yelled. We all rushed inside, trying to find everyone and get them the hell out of the house as something....supernatural started happening. 

The Colonel came out of his room looking confused before Abe ushered him down the stairs while I headed for the room Damien and Celine were in. As I approached the door I felt sick to my stomach. There was a bright, unnatural light emerging from the door and time seemed to slow to a crawl as I drew closer to it. It swung open, releasing the bright light and all I saw was the silhouette of Celine standing there. Something was wrong. I felt trapped yet at the same time I felt something pulling on me. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. All I could do was stand there and stare at her. From my right I could hear George shouting for help as he forced the door closed. The light was gone and then everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

When I came back to some state of awareness, George was locking the door and Abe was leaning against the wall in deep thought. 

"What the hell is going on?" The Colonel questioned as he came back upstairs. "Where's Celine?"

"She's gone, and so is everyone else." George said simply, as if he were just recounting the weather. 

"Wait a minute, where the hell do you think you're going?!" Abe shouted after the groundskeeper.

"Away from here! This place is cursed!" George yelled back. "If you'd half a brain, you'd all do the same."

"Don't walk away from me!" The Colonel yelled. "Where's Celine? Where's Damien?!"

"I've spent 25 years cooking for these uppity fucks. I'm not about to die for 'em!" Chef yelled. "I quit! Bitch!" With that he stormed off out of the manor, slamming the door as he did. 

"I know things seem far beyond your control right now," the butler said, placing a reassuring hand on the Colonel's shoulder. "but such that it is for all of us here. I shall take my leave, and I implore you to do the same." The Colonel looked at him like he had just slapped him in the face.

"I won't let my friends die in this Godforsaken house!" He yelled. "And if you all are too much of a coward to do the same, you had best leave before I kill you myself!" That shook me to my very core and Abe tried to stop him before he left.

"Now you hold on a second, I've got more questions--"

"Get your hands off me!" 

"What the hell is going on here?!" He went off after the Colonel and that left me and the shaken up butler. 

"I know he's in pain and I know you might be, too...But we need to leave this place." He said. "There's only death here now." He departed and that left just me in the hallway to pick up the pieces of what formerly made up my reality. I could hear my heartbeat echoing in my ears as the room grew cold and dark. 

"Hey! Help!" I heard someone whisper from behind me, but when I turned around there was no one. Suddenly I couldn't feel my body. I couldn't even scream for help as a more distorted voice rang in my ears. "Madness? You want to talk about madness?" The voice, while still distorted, sounded familiar. It couldn't have been. Was it, Mark? "Madness is stealing your best friend's wife." My body began moving of its own accord, as if I was being guided somewhere. "Be careful." I blanked out for a second and found myself heading down the stairs, Mark's words from the previous night echoing in my mind. "Now this evening, it's not all about the poker; it's not all about me." Another blank out, and I was in the parlor. I was hearing the shadows of things that had occurred within the manor, things I had and hadn't seen with my own eyes. I heard Damien's voice. "Can't we resolve this amicably?" And then the Colonel. "Life needs a bit of madness, eh, chap?" And Damien again. "Good to let the beast out every once in a while, eh, old friend?" And Abe. "I'm not gonna just sit around and let you drag my partner off to their very likely death!" Chef. "I thought I told you to stay out of my kitchen!" 

The butler. "A domain of evil it is...but in we must go. You first." I didn't know where I was, but it was a room off the kitchen. One I hadn't seen before. Where was I? I suddenly had control of my body again although my heartbeat was still pounding in my ears. I entered the room, a small office actually, and noticed the place was a wreck. With notes everywhere and scraps of paper covering the walls and desk. There was a sheet of paper on the desk scrawled with hasty writing and newspaper cutouts about the Colonel. Was this Abe's office?

I turned around and found a typewriter with a piece of paper sticking out of it, the write up of the case so far. There were more pictures and papers scattered about, and the shattered framed photo I found yesterday. 

"What the fuck is going on here?" I said softly.

"There you are!" I jumped a bit as the Colonel came storming in. "I've been meaning to ask you some questions--" he stopped as he saw the massive amount of evidence Abe had compiled against him. "What is this? The detective's been keeping tabs on us?" As he continued walking around the room the realization hit him like a bus. "The detective's been keeping tabs on me. And Celine! He's the one who orchestrated ALL of this! He DID this!"

"N-now, calm down Colonel. We don't know that for sure." I said, trying to bring him down from his manic state. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this." But to no avail as he stormed out.

"Detective! DETECTIVE!" He yelled, heading up the stairs while he loaded his gun and ignoring my pleas for him to calm down and think things through. "Where is he? He took them from me. He took my friends from ME."

"Colonel, please!" I pleaded desperately. I didn't want him doing anything rash, especially since I knew for a fact that Abe had nothing to do with whatever the hell caused Celine and Damien to disappear.

"He took...Celine. He took Damien. Where is he? WHERE IS HE!" He searched the rooms, tearing doors open and getting increasingly angrier as he found them empty. "DETECTIVE! Are you hiding him from me?!"

"N-no! I-I--"

"He can't hid from me forever." He growled, madness, sorrow and pain clouding his eyes.

"Colonel, stop!" I yelled, but he just pushed me aside.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY! DETECTIVE!" Abe was at the other end of the hall and as soon as he saw us the two were aiming their sights at each other.

"Colonel! Abe! Put the goddamn guns down!" I yelled.

"You'd better choose your next words carefully, Colonel." Abe said, ignoring me.

"Only my friends get to call me by that name, and you, sir, are NO friend of mine!" The Colonel shot back.

"Oh you're one to talk about friends, you MURDERER!"

"I didn't kill anybody! This is MADNESS!" 

"For fuck's sake, knock it off before you two do something you'll regret!" As soon as the words left my mouth I instantly regretted it as time slowed to an unnatural crawl. My brain buzzed as the scene before me played out eerily similar to what I had heard just a few minutes earlier. 

"Oh, you wanna talk about madness? Madness is stealing your best friend's wife." Abe sneered. I tried to grab the Colonel's gun but he just pushed me back. "Madness is squeezing him for cash to fund your own sick, sexual exploits with that very woman--"

"SHUT UP!" Colonel yelled but Abe didn't stop, it was if he couldn't.

"Madness is plotting the death of your childhood friend because you can't handle the--" Everything moved in slow motion. My ears rang as both thunder and a gunshot went off. Abe clutched his chest and he looked at the Colonel in utter disbelief as he slumped against the wall. A sound I barely recognized as my own voice rang in my ears as I tried to wrestle the gun away from the Colonel. Suddenly I heard another gunshot, and felt something prick me in the stomach. I pulled away from him and looked at my hands. They were covered in blood. My blood. A strangled sound left my throat and my vision blurred as I stepped backwards. Everything felt like it was moving through a filter and I felt myself falling. There was fear and remorse in the Colonel's eyes as he reached out for me.

"It was an accident!" His voice was slow and slurred, distorted as I fell from the balcony down to the floor below. There was a sickening crack and darkness swallowed me up but not before the Colonel's voice filled my ears again. "I swear...."


	8. Chapter 8

I awoke to the sound of my own heartbeat. It was dark, pitch dark and there was nothing around but me and miraculously Mark's body. Where was I? Was I dead? Alive? Somewhere in between? I felt cold and only felt colder as a voice came from Mark's body.

"It's not fair, isn't it?" Suddenly the body was gone and I was alone. I didn't know how long it was but it felt like forever before two figures approached me. It was Damien, surrounded by a bright blue aura, and Celine surrounded by a shimmering red aura.

"He took everything from us." Damien said, distraught and echoed. "He trapped us in here with this broken shell and no way out."

"He who?" I asked. "You mean Mark? But that's impossible!"

"Its true." Celine said somberly. "This whole time I thought it was the house but...I never thought he'd fall this far." 

"So Mark really did set this all up....he....he did this...." I said, realization dawning on me. The Colonel was innocent. Abe was innocent. We all were. Everything was planned down to the smallest detail. All of us were just pawns in Mark's plan.

"And we played right into his hand. He'd been planning this for years and now that son-of-a-bitch is out there walking around in MY body--" I had never seen him so angry before, it was a bit frightening.

"Damien, we CAN'T do this right now." Celine said before turning her attention to me. "Look I know you have questions and I can't answer everything right now. Just know that Mark took everything from us from his twisted quest of vengeance. But death does not mean the same thing here."

"Here? What you mean inside the manor?" I asked. Was that where we were? Were we still somehow inside?

"What Celine means by that is...This doesn't have to be the end." Damien said, calmed down a bit. "You're trapped in here just the same as us, but your body...Broken as it may be, it's still out there."

"Mark's not the only one that can use this place to his benefit." She said. "The same way that I brought you here, is the same way that I can send you back."

"Okay then send me back." I said, however the look on Damien's face said it wasn't going to be that easy.

"But you can't survive on your own. You're dead, after all." He said. "The colonel saw to that."

"You can't blame him. Honestly, he's a good man. But he's dangerous now."

"I know this all sounds crazy. Honestly, I don't know what the fuck is going on. But I know that I trust Celine." And I trusted him. "And if you trust us...just...let me in." There was a brief flicker, and I had the feeling they were running out of time as was I. "We can fix this. Together."

"I won't force this on you. You have a choice here." Celine reassured me. "Just know that this is the only way that you can escape." I didn't know exactly how all of this was going to work. But nevertheless, I nodded. "Just relax."

"This'll work. I promise." Damien reassured me. I was going to miss him. Celine did...something to me and it wasn't long before I was staring blearily up at the chandelier. I was back. Somehow, I was back. I sat up, getting to my knees before standing up. No one was here. Or at least, I thought no one was. I turned around and saw the Colonel sitting near the door dressed in a completely different outfit, holding Damien's cane close. I backed away in fear, I didn't want to die again. Not after I just came back. It seems he noticed that he spooked me and held up his hand. 

"Oh no! No! It's okay. I-I throught you were dead." He said. Something wasn't right. "I-I-I mean, of course you're not dead! You're not-- how could you be dead?" His voice was strained, and a bit manic. How long was I dead for? It couldn't have been too long. "I mean, I-I wouldn't have killed you. I-I didn't kill you. I mean, of cour-- I-I..." He trailed off as he placed Damien's cane down and a look of understanding crossed his face. "Of course! I didn't kill anybody!" He laughed and I realized seeing me come back to life broke him. "I didn't-- It was all a joke! Of course, it was all a joke!" Except that it wasn't but he was too far gone to realize it wasn't. "Were you in on this?! Did Damien put you up to this? Of course he did!" He stumbled off, still laughing but behind that laugh I could hear tears as he called out for Damien. "Damien, where are you, you rapscallion? Where are you? Celine? Ah, it's time to come out now! AH! It was good, it was good! You almost had me." I wanted to go after him, but for some reason I didn't. I felt that would only make it worse. I could still hear him off in the distance, searching for the friends that would never return. Or so I thought. I reached out and picked up Damien's cane but as I did something....happened. 

The room seemed to...warp. The Colonel's voice still droned on in the background and something bizarre occurred. My hand changed and I could no longer control my body. No, not my body any more. HIS body. He glanced up and looked into the mirror and room flickered as the being that stole Damien's body glared back at me. He snapped, literally snapped, his neck and the mirror before us shattered as static crackled in my ears. Who was this person? Was it Mark? But I recognized those auras. What happened to Damien and Celine? Did they fuse with this person? Was this Mark's doing or the manor? The being sneered at me before taking the cane and storming off, but I didn't move. I couldn't move. I was stuck there. Trapped, frozen in that spot. Forever staring at that cracked mirror. I wasn't leaving. I'm still here....even after all that happened. All the death and murder and pain and sadness.

It's just me.

I'm still here.


End file.
